CA: Taking on nurses, Schwarzenegger may be kicking the wrong butts

Monterey Herald ^ | 12/12/04 | Beth Fouhy - AP

[Earthdweller]

Exactly..and people dead too...humm..do I see a play by layers here to keep this status quo?

[Earthdweller]

layers = lawyers

[Spyder]

Correction - JAACO JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizaitons).

[cyborg]

I never thought about the slip-n-fall crowd getting into the hustle. Hmmmmm.....

[ladyjane]

Just wait until you have surgery and your 'cutie' has 18 post-op patients on her hands. Do you really think you're going to get the care you need? The first few days after surgery require skilled nursing care - not just for pain medication but for other nursing activities that will keep you out of big trouble.

I've seen 80 year old patients, unable to see, eating cold sandwiches for supper because they didn't fill out their food menu and no one was available to help them. I've seen those same patients not walked - when they should be - because there was no one to do it. The cardiac arrest down the hall took priority.

I'm not a nurse and I am not a union supporter, but hospitals will cut corners whenever they can and we'll suffer for it.

[ARridgerunner]

Question: How long does it take a nurse to give a pill?

Answer: Fifty minutes. Five to give it and 45 minutes to document it.

[cyborg]

LOL it's true and if you don't laugh you most certainly will cry.

[Earthdweller]

It's like the chicken and the egg effect..are there not enough Nurses to take care of patients because of the dangers or is it the dangers to patients that are causing not enough Nurses? I think the later is true. People don't want to become Nurses because they don't want to get sued. You have to give these people credit..they are actually asking for a pay cut in the future. You know if more people actually want to become Nurses that the pay will be even less. So you tell me who's behind all this?

[Earthdweller]

Question: How long does it take a nurse to give a pill?
Answer: Fifty minutes. Five to give it and 45 minutes to document it.
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Again because of lawsuits.

[ARridgerunner]

One profession where a sense of humor is an absolute must:-) (along with malpractice insurance)

Good luck with your career.

[cyborg]

I really do think the danger of being sued worries a lot of people. I'd rather take a pay cut than work back to back shifts make a mistake then get sued.

[cyborg]

Oh yes lots of good attitude and even better insurance!

[Spyder]

I've seen 80 year old patients, unable to see, eating cold sandwiches for supper because they didn't fill out their food menu and no one was available to help them. I've seen those same patients not walked - when they should be - because there was no one to do it. The cardiac arrest down the hall took priority.

But you can blame a lot of this on governmental regulation and Medicare to start with. A hospital has to watch its bottom line. Most are not huge money makers; a lot struggle to even stay open. I'm not up on the latest info, but the last time I worked inpatient as a physical therapist they were in the process of bringing in DRGs, or diagnostic related groups, basically meaning that Medicare paid the same for any patient admitted for a cholecystectomy unless there were complications and you could add another diagnosis code to his list.

Of course, the Medicare payout wasn't near enough to include the additional nursing staff required for the assorted other health professionals that had been cut.

Bottom line- mandate the number of nurses and the hospital's either going to close, make cuts elsewhere (housekeeping?), or soak the insurance patients even more.

Therefore, if the patient needed a physical therapist's skill to get him out of bed and walk, the hospital got the same amount of money as if they didn't. Since most of the patients we were walking could be just as easily walked by a nurse, PTs were phased out for most problems other than orthopedic ones, thus adding to the nursing workload.

[BobS]

I know about nursing. It's not an easy job. I know someone who just flew 15 hours here to take the NCLEX exam. And she is a "cutie" because she sees death and keeps it within her like I saw death in the military. It is managed, the best way possible.

[Earthdweller]

There's absolutely no way that unionized nurses in southern California are "mostly Republican". This is a bold-faced lie.
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All I can say is..you are wrong. There are a lot of Republican MD's that could vouch for that too. Lawsuits are the problem. GW seems to understand this. I don't know what Arnold problem is here. This is not a special interest issue.

[Spyder]

I saw a lot of doctors drifting further and further left until Kerry nominated Edwards. Even our most liberal friend, an internist, became torn as to who to vote for - his animosity to trial lawyers appears even higher than his pacifist nature.

[Grampa Dave]

It's always been so obvious that the nursing ratio was merely Davis' payoff to the nurses' union. I hope Arnold doesn't bend to the union's pressure (or to heartstring-tugging stories like the elderly relatives in the above article).

The nurses' union is just like the teachers' union and any so called public workers' union.

So kick their butts Arnold.

[Earthdweller]

Yep..this needs to be addressed more carefully. I believe that MD' and Nurses are a Republican block that could carry away a lot of votes just by way of the peoples trust in them. Kid gloves Arnie..kid Gloves. To ignore this group is akin to ignoring the troops.

[Earthdweller]

The nurses' union is just like the teachers' union and any so called public workers' union.
So kick their butts Arnold.
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Bad idea.

[Earthdweller]

Case in point. Polls show more Americans trust Nurses over ANY other group.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1296775/posts